DARK HOUSES a gripping detective thriller full of suspense (8 page)

Greco shuddered. “I would never have paid good money to come to a dump like this.”

“It’s only a fiver on the door, but the drinks are top whack.”

“Age range?”

“Seventeen to twenty, no older. By the time they reach twenty they’ve got more sense.”

A man came up behind them. He was heavily built and dressed in jeans, T-shirt and a leather jacket. “Joss Taylor. I’m the manager. I also double as a bouncer on week nights.”

Greco showed him his badge. “So you were on the door last night?”

The man looked puzzled. “What’s going on? The licence and everything is in order. We don’t get much trouble in here. There’s no drug-taking or dealing, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Greco let this pass. He showed Taylor the picture of Jenna Proctor. “We’re interested in this girl. She was here last night and left early, about eleven thirty or twelve.”

Joss Taylor studied the photo for a few seconds. “Yes, I know her. Right little madam. Well, we operate a dress code here, Inspector.”

Greco’s eyes widened. A dress code? In this dive!

“We like the males to wear shirts, and the girls should be in dresses, not jeans. That sort of thing. We also like the girls to keep their shoes on. This one was always kicking hers off. I asked her nicely, gave her ample warning, but then she started with the abuse. That’s one foul-mouthed young lady when she gets going.”

“And she got abusive last night, so you threw her out?”

“Had no choice. She was sick too, all over the floor over there. Too much vodka and no food.”

“What happened then?”

“She got a taxi, I think. She stumbled about a bit, finally made it to the door, threw up again and then some bloke went to her rescue. I left her to it.”

“This bloke. Did you get a look at him?” Speedy asked.

Joss Taylor shrugged. “Didn’t take much notice. I was glad to be rid of the stupid cow.”

“I suggest you start to think hard about the details, Mr Taylor. Jenna Proctor was found murdered this morning.”

Speedy’s phone rang and he walked away to take the call.

“I only caught a glimpse. I was more interested in getting her out of here. He was a tall bloke, wearing one of those woolly hats. I thought that was odd because it’s quite warm now. The car was dark,” he added. “But that’s about it. I’m sorry. We were busy, and every hand is needed to run this place.”

“Sir, Grace’s been on. There’s been a development and she thinks we should go back to the station,” Speedy interrupted.

The two detectives went outside. Greco looked around but there was no CCTV. “A dark car around midnight? We could check the cameras on the main streets. Archibald Street is on the other side of town.”

“What’s the betting he avoided them all?” said Speedy.

“It’s got to be worth a try though. What’s the emergency?”

“Something about a letter,” Speedy said.

Chapter 8

“This has forced our hand.”

DCI Green waved an envelope at Greco. “I’ve called a press conference for five. I thought you and DS Quickenden, plus myself.”

“He sent that to the press, and nothing to us?”

“Yes, and to Laycock of the
Herald
of all people. This maniac has outlined our shortcomings in glorious detail to that pain in the arse.” He handed Greco a copy of the letter. “This is what Laycock received.”

The writer called the investigating officers incompetent fools. He said they would never catch him, and that his reign of terror was only just beginning. He also mentioned both girls by name, although the letter gave no details about what had been done to them. He had signed himself
smiley mouth
. Was that a reference to how he’d cut them?

“We can’t be sure that these came from the killer,” Greco said. “Apart from the girls’ names, there are no other details. That signature could mean anything. But why goad us like this? Why would a killer want to draw attention to himself in this way?”

“Who knows? But we have to get him, Stephen. The press are like a pack of wolves and we can’t keep this under wraps any longer. What have you got so far? Is anyone even remotely in the frame?” Green asked.

“No, no one. Both victims led very different lives. The only thing they had in common was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It strikes me that he’s more interested in getting the venue right. He chooses the houses very carefully because he needs to prepare. Then, when he’s ready, he strikes.”

“The houses were similar and both were up for sale. The agent must have some idea, surely? You’ve checked who viewed them?”

“No one has shown any interest in either house, sir,” Greco said.

“And you’re sure the agent isn’t lying?”

“He has no reason to. Is Laycock here?”

“Yes. He’s waiting in a soft interview room down on the ground floor. I don’t want him seeing anything up here. Particularly not that.” He pointed to the incident board.

“I’d like a word with him first. I don’t want him stirring things up with the rest of them, or printing a load of rubbish in his paper. For now, I’d prefer if it was kept quiet,” said Greco.

“You can try, but I doubt he’ll go for it. He’s got a story and he wants the readership and the sales.”

“And we’ve got a job to do. Right now the killer thinks he’s calling the shots. Printing this is simply playing into his hands.”

* * *

“Mr Laycock? I’m DI Stephen Greco.” He sat down facing the reporter.

Greco had only ever seen Laycock from a distance. Up close, he was a tall, well-built man with dark hair cut very short and a stubbly beard. Greco thought women would probably consider him good-looking.

“I’ve looked at the letter. It’s interesting, but there’s nothing in it that proves it came from the killer.”

“Whether it does or not, what it says is true,” said Laycock. “He’s running rings round the lot of you.” A small smile curled at the edges of his mouth. “Two young women have been murdered and you don’t have a clue. You’re getting nowhere fast. He isn’t going to stop and we all know it. So I have to ask, DI Greco, how many more innocent girls have to die before you lot pull your finger out?”

Greco felt his hackles rise. He’d only just met the man, and already he disliked him. Laycock set his nerves on edge. “Printing that in your paper won’t help matters. It will simply make the people in this town fearful.”

“Perhaps they need to be. The killer could well be one of them.”

“Do you know something?”

“I know you’re wasting time.” Laycock leant back in his chair. “In that letter he says it’s just the beginning. You need to move fast before another lass ends up butchered. Or perhaps you don’t care.”

“Firstly, that letter could be from anyone. Cases like this attract all sorts of weird phone calls and correspondence, even confessions. Secondly, me and my team do care. We care very much. It’s us that have to speak to family members, attend crime scenes and post-mortems. Do you imagine that we enjoy that? We do things in the course of our work that other folk can’t even begin to imagine,” Greco replied with cold fury in his voice.

“So it’s tough.” Laycock was dismissive. “But that’s the job. If you can’t hack it, I suggest you pass it over to someone who can.”

Greco was wasting his time here. He reverted to the usual formula. “We are following a number of leads. I cannot discuss with you any progress made to date. You know that. I suggest you attend the press briefing with the others and only print what we give you.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? He chose me because he must know my reputation. I won’t be gagged. I’ll print what I damn well want and you can’t stop me.”

“You’re quite right. But first ask yourself what good that would do.”

“My readers are hungry for information. They want to know what you’re doing. They want to know if the streets of Oldston are safe. I intend to tell them.” Laycock got up and left.

DCI Green entered the room. “I heard most of that. You tried, Stephen, but the bastard will print whatever salacious gossip he thinks fit and to hell with the truth. That letter might be scathing about us, but it doesn’t give any details about the killings. We should be thankful for that at least.”

“Has the original letter gone to the Duggan?”

“Yes. Laycock handed it in — after he’d taken a photocopy of course.”

“Sir!” Craig Merrick stuck his head around the door. “We’ve had the care home on the phone. The nurse got back to us. Grace had asked if anyone had visited the women and if they had keys to the houses. The nurse said she could do with speaking to someone about it.”

“I’ll see to the press, Stephen,” Green said. “You go and speak to her.”

* * *

“Both women, Mrs Baxter and Mrs Johnson, came here recently. Neither can cope alone anymore. Then, after I spoke to your officer something occurred to me,” Lorraine Hopkirk told Greco. “She was asking if she could speak to the women about access to their old houses, particularly about who would have had a key.”

“Are the women able to talk to me?”

“Not really. Doreen Baxter might, but you have to catch her just right. Mostly she tends to ramble.”

“So how do you think you can help, Miss Hopkirk?”

“We offer a lot more here than residential care. We have a day centre and we operate a carer service for the local council. Before both women came to live here they had visits several times a day from a carer. To get them up, washed, make sure they had food, that type of thing.”

“Does that mean that your staff would have keys?”

“No. The same carer doesn’t visit the same patient each day, so all keys are kept in a safe at the house. We fit a small metal box to an outside wall which can only be accessed by a four digit code. That way all of our carers can get in at any time.”

“And both the houses had these safes?”

“Yes. Since they were terraced houses the safe would be situated on the wall at the back of the house near to the electricity and gas meters.”

No one had mentioned noticing these, but it was worth another look. “A small metal box, you say?”

She nodded. “Of course there may well be other people who had a key but in these cases, I doubt it. Neither women had close relatives and before our involvement they spent most of their time alone.”

“I see. How many residents do you have in a similar situation? I’m thinking of someone who has come here recently. Someone who has left an empty house, an old house needing work, and one with a key safe, possibly from that same area.”

“We have a few. I’d have to do you a list,” she said. “Someone recently arrived? Most of our residents have been here a while and the properties they left behind have been re-let or sold by now. But there is someone. Dora Stevens came to us a week ago. She lived on Pierce Street. That property is on the market and it will need a lot of work.”

“So where is the key to her house now?”

“Still in the key safe, I suppose. Eventually the safes are taken down and the keys given back to the landlord or the new owner. In the case of the two ladies you are interested in, this hasn’t happened yet. There is no rush, you see. If the properties are rented we wait for the nod from the landlord. Each safe has a telephone number on it and they can ring in when they want it removed.”

“Can I have the address of the house on Pierce Street?”

“Number forty-two.”

It was worth a look. According to the letter, the killer didn’t intend to stop. He would be looking for his next house.

“The man we’re looking for could have a connection to this place. He knows the system. If you see or hear anything you think might be relevant, let me know.” He handed her a card.

“You think a man who comes here, who visits a relative, perhaps even his mother, could be the killer?”

Greco didn’t comment. “Did you have reason to contact Jessie Weston the night before last — ask her to come in?”

“Jessie, yes. Her granny is in here. She was being difficult, becoming overwrought. Jessie had always said she would come, whatever time of day or night it was. She was the only one who could calm the old lady, you see.”

This was useful information. Greco knew he should return to the station and find out about the outcome of the press conference, but he didn’t have the stomach for it. Instead he decided to have a look around the two properties again, and see if the key safes were still intact.

Looking at a detailed map of the area, he could see that all three streets were very close together. Pierce Street was exactly halfway between the other two. Greco parked his car on Arnold Street and walked to number eight. The street was dark and gloomy. There was only one street light and it was positioned at the far end. It didn’t so much illuminate the area as cast weird grey shadows. All the houses looked badly in need of attention, with crumbling brickwork and rotting window frames.

Number eight was locked, with police tape still across the front door. He took a narrow path to the back of the house. There was more police tape across the back gate but it was rickety and loose.

The backyard was small. He crossed old square flagstones with deep cracks between each one. He avoided stepping on the cracks. In one corner was a small shed. Perhaps it had once been an outside toilet. These houses were old. According to an engraved stone at the front, they were built in the 1890s. He could imagine how difficult it would be for an elderly woman to manage a property like this. Keeping it warm would be a losing battle for a start.

There was a small amount of light coming from the kitchen window next door, but it wasn’t much help. As his eyes became accustomed to the dark, Greco could see two meters. Both were at one end of the wall next to the fence separating this house from its neighbour. To the left of these was a foot square imprint on the wall, and small holes where something had been removed. The key safe!

Greco took his mobile from his jacket pocket and rang the station. Speedy answered.

“I’ve found something at Arnold Street. I want forensics down here to take a look and a uniformed officer to keep an eye out.” He told Speedy about the keys. “I’m going to check Archibald Street next. It is possible that a house on Pierce Street will be set up for the next one. I’m going to check on it before I call it a day. The nurse at the care home has a new resident from there, and her old house fits the profile. I could be way off beam but it’s worth a look.”

Archibald Street was exactly the same. The key safe was missing, somehow removed from the outside wall at the back. Greco rang it in and moved on.

Greco walked the few hundred yards to the next house. He went over his conversation with Suzy. He had expected her to jump at the chance of remarrying, but she hadn’t. Why was she holding back? After all, it had been Suzy who wanted to restart the relationship. So what was going on? Why had she said she wanted him if she couldn’t commit? He would have to talk to her again, try and understand what was going on in her head.

Pierce Street wasn’t as claustrophobic as the others. The houses were a little bigger and they had small front gardens. The street was wider too, with parking bays marked on the road. Number forty-two had a ‘sold’ sign above it. Harvey & Son were the agents again. Greco walked to the top of the street and made his way down the back way between Pierce Street and the houses in the neighbouring road. The house number was painted in gleaming white on the back gate. Someone had already started the refurb. The gate was bolted from the inside. Feeling over the top edge, Greco slid the bolt open and went in.

“There’s no one there!” A woman’s voice called out. “And there’s nothing to steal either. The place has been cleared.”

It was the next door neighbour.

“I’m the police!” he called back. “I’m just checking the yard. Has there been anyone else here recently?”

He heard her laugh. “Hundreds.”

“Prospective buyers?”

“And workmen. Bloody nuisance with their noise. One of them had his radio blaring at midnight. I had to bang on the wall.”

“Are they local, the workmen?”

“No idea, love. Don’t pay much attention. Mostly it’s the white van brigade.”